China's Qingdao Maritime Court

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A landmark lawsuit has been filed against two oil giants in a maritime court over the oil spill in 2011 that polluted a huge area of Bohai Bay in Northeast China.

The suit, filed against ConocoPhillips and China National Offshore Oil Corp, is the first public interest litigation brought by a nonprofit organization over marine environmental pollution to be accepted by a court.

Such a move was not possible until a new environmental protection law took effect on Jan 1.